More than 1,500 works of art, with more than 160 venues, and 47 countries represented. Those are just a few statistics of this year's ArtPrize in Grand Rapids opening today with some 400,000 expected visitors to the city. Michigan Radio's Lindsey Smith was on the scene, and we spoke to her as well as the new Executive Director of ArtPrize.

And, Congressman Justin Amash has decided not to run for U.S. senate. What does this decision mean for the rest of the candidates?

The University of Michigan announced earlier that they will now offer in-state tuition to undocumented students. We talked with Serena Davila, the executive director for Legislative Affairs for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, about what this means for the students.

Also, how well are health care systems in the U.S. working? A new report by the Commonwealth Fund gave us some answers.

And, the small town of Colon in southwest Michigan has been dubbed the “Magic Capital of the World.” We spoke with one resident to find out why that is.

First on the show, our weekly check-in with Detroit News Business Columnist Daniel Howes. And, on the front-burner? The mediation talks between Detroit's Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and dozens and dozens of lawyers representing the city's creditors. Howes joined us to tell us more about the mediation.

ArtPrize opened today, and for the next 19 days downtown Grand Rapids will be crammed with art from all over the world, and we the public get to decide which artist is going to win the $200,000 top prize.

This is an art show that Time magazine called one of 5 festive events you won’t want to miss in 2013, and as you might expect, Grand Rapids is buzzing.

Michigan Radio’s West Michigan reporter Lindsey Smith joined us today from Grand Rapids to talk about the show.

Art is popping up like mushrooms in downtown Grand Rapids. That’s because ArtPrize kicks off this week.

The big winner of the art competition is decided by the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the event and vote. But there are juried awards too. In all more than $500,000 in prize money is up for grabs.

Norman Wilder has been painting an 18-foot long, 10-foot high mural on the outside wall of a risk management company since last Wednesday.

When it's time to buy something, what's your pattern? Do you head to the big chain store thinking you might save a little bit? Or do you try to take your business and your money to a local business?

Elissa Hillary hopes you think "local first."

"When you are supporting a locally owned business, 73% more money stays in the community and recirculates, and that money goes to create jobs to fund our tax base, to support our infrastructure, and schools and roads and things like that," said Hillary.

She heads up Local First. It’s a Grand Rapids-based group with a mission to get us all to keep our local businesses and merchants top of mind when we go shopping.

Vendors are preparing for a flood of people as the new Downtown Market opens up tomorrow in Grand Rapids.

Community leaders hope the giant new indoor market will become a year-round regional attraction.

The smell of fresh apple pie from the hot pink Sweetie-licious bakery is the first thing you notice inside the new Downtown Market. It’s one of Linda Hunt’s national award-winning pies made with Michigan apples.

Hunt’s small bakery in DeWitt makes more than homemade pies. They make “snickerdoodles” or “whoopee-pies,” and cupcakes among other things.

The Pentagon is proposing to cut back production of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. We looked at what that could mean for the Michigan companies that make parts for the Bradley.

And, who wins and who loses when a major freeway is widened through urban neighborhoods?

And we looked at the local food scene in Grand Rapids to see just how food builds a sense of place.

Also, a dead zone has developed in Green Bay. What is causing it and is there anything we can do to fix it?

First on the show, There's been lots to celebrate in terms of sales for the U.S. car makers, bouncing back in a big way from their near-death experiences.

But those strong sales have the auto companies and their suppliers boosting production at a fast rate. And that could be having an unwanted effect---declining customer satisfaction with the vehicles they're turning out.

Claes Fornell, founder of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, joined us today to talk about the latest survey results.

That is the mission of Lisa Rose Starner, to get as many of us as possible to eat local. And there’s plenty of that happening in Grand Rapids, from community gardens to microbreweries to food entrepreneurs and artisans and so much more. Lisa was invited to tell the many stories of the Grand Rapids local food scene and the result is her book “Grand Rapids Food: A Culinary Revolution."

Lisa Rose Starner joined us today from the WGVU studios in Grand Rapids.

Courtesy of the West Michigan Arts and Technology Center / courtesy of WMCAT

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Only a handful of public schools in Grand Rapids still offer art classes of any kind. To fill the gap, the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (WMCAT) offers free art education at their facility in downtown Grand Rapids.

State of Opportunity's Story Booth stopped by WMCAT this summer. The booth goes out across the state to capture stories we might not otherwise hear.

Teenagers participating in various summer art education programs shared stories about what art means to them.

Keon Pearson and her son Keontay Seymour both came into the booth to talk to each other about how access to art education has changed Keontay and State of Opportunity's Youth Journalist Alex Wilson produced this audio postcard.

The city of Detroit is getting $52.3 million to deal with its blight problem.

Several other Michigan cities are also getting money to tear down abandoned homes and clean up other vacant buildings.

In June, the U.S.Treasury Department approved $100 million dollars to help several Michigan cities deal with blight.

In addition to the money going to Detroit, the governor’s office announced today that the city of Flint will receive $20.1 million. Saginaw, Grand Rapids and Pontiac will also receive some money from the federal government’s Hardest Hit fund.

The Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids will build a new treatment system to prevent a film of smelly, nuisance bioslime from building up on a nearby river. That’s after the state issued the airport a discharge permit on Friday.

Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality says the smelly bioslime is not a human health hazard. It’s formed by bacteria that eat the deicing fluids used on airplanes in the winter months. The state says the airport has until 2015 to stop the bioslimes.

“I couldn't be happier about what Steelcase has become and where we're headed,” Hackett said, “But it's time to provide opportunity to others, and time for me to pursue some other interests. While continuing to run the company with as much energy and excitement as I did when I took the role in 1994, I'll also ready myself for the next chapter in my life.”

Steelcase has been around for more than a hundred years. But over the last decade the recession and technology have forced all the big office furniture companies in West Michigan to adapt to major changes in how and where people work.

Midnight Faces is a music duo consisting of Phil Stancil - he's been playing around Grand Rapids since he was in grade school - and Matt Warn - a product of the Philadelphia music scene who now lives in Washington DC.

The pair has been able to work around that distance between Grand Rapids and D.C. to come up with their debut full-length album and gear up to play dates in the U.S. and possibly Japan.

Phil Stancil and Matt Warn joined us from Grand Rapids.

Their website is midnightfaces.com and their album "Fornication" will be released June 18th.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium is getting a major upgrade.

The planetarium is popular; pulling in about 60,000 visitors a year. But it uses technology that's almost two decades old. GRPM spokeswoman Kate Moore says the upgrade will make a huge difference.

“Right now our shows, not only are they out of date technology wise, but some of the information is not shown in the best way that’s possible. They’re not at maximum capabilities to what, especially students, but also the general public is used to seeing these days,” Moore said.

Every once and a while, our State of Opportunity team receives a story pitch from someone in the community who's trying to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged youth. This is one of those stories. It’s a piece about boys, girls, and the universal language of music.

Former President George W. Bush will be in Grand Rapids this Wednesday, May 15. He will be delivering the keynote address at the second annual West Michigan Aviation Academy’s "Leaders of Tomorrow Gala."

The West Michigan Aviation Academy is a charter school founded in 2010 by Grand Rapids businessman, Richard DeVos, Jr. In addition to teaching core curricula, the school specifically focuses on aviation with a general emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

According to Monica Scott at MLive, the event begins at 4:30 p.m. and Bush is expected to speak before the dinner served later in the evening. It will take place at the Alticor Hangar at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

According to the Gala's website, Bush will speak to a sold out crowd of more than 850 guests.

The rapids that gave Michigan’s second largest city its name are long gone. Hydraulic dams that used to power the furniture industry are major safety hazards for small boats and kayaks. They also block fish like sturgeon from spawning upstream.

“The state House has passed bills to revoke welfare benefits based on drug use and persistent school absences. One bill would allow suspicion-based drug testing, which could lead to families losing their cash assistance ... Another measure would allow suspicion-based drug testing of welfare recipients ... The bill got bi-partisan support in the House,” Jake Neher reports.

ACLU files suit against Grand Rapids police

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued Grand Rapids authorities for routinely making unconstitutional arrests for trespassing on property of businesses open to the public.

“ACLU Attorney Miriam Aukerman says city police have long urged businesses to sign a ‘letter of intent to prosecute trespassers.’ Then, they use that letter as an excuse to arrest people they decide are trespassing on business properties,” Michigan Radio’s Tracy Samilton reports.

Gary Peters officially announces run for Senate

Three-term Democratic Congressman Gary Peters became the first major candidate to kick off a campaign for Michigan’s soon-to-be vacant U.S. Senate seat. The seat will be left empty after Senator Carl Levin steps down in 2014. Several Republican candidates are also considering running.